Too much rightness turns rigid. Too much kindness turns weak.

The source

"Too much rightness turns rigid. Too much kindness turns weak." Nitobe Inazo said it in Bushido, ch. 5 (Benevolence, the Feeling of Distress). Nitobe wrote it in English (1900). Our line is a modern rendering.

"Rectitude carried to excess hardens into stiffness; Benevolence indulged beyond measure sinks into weakness."

Nitobe Inazo, 1900, Bushido, ch. 5 (Benevolence, the Feeling of Distress). English: Bushido, the Soul of Japan (1900), Project Gutenberg 12096; Nitobe quoting Date Masamune.

Who said it

Nitobe Inazo (1862–1933). Wrote Bushido: The Soul of Japan in English in 1900 to explain the samurai code to the West.

Questions

Who said "Too much rightness turns rigid. Too much kindness turns weak."?

Nitobe Inazo (1862–1933). Source: Bushido, ch. 5 (Benevolence, the Feeling of Distress).

What is the original wording?

Rectitude carried to excess hardens into stiffness; Benevolence indulged beyond measure sinks into weakness (Nitobe Inazo, 1900). Nitobe wrote it in English (1900). Our line is a modern rendering.